Far From Home
by windweaver
Summary: The Great Ninja War had ended much more abruptly than anyone could have predicted and with all the ninja returning home, a new era of peace could be laid before them. The wounds that were fresh and bloodied could be healed, but there was no end to the wounds that would bury themselves deep in the recesses of one's mind if they weren't careful. He was careful, he was careful.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hello all! You may all remember me from my other fanfic "An Anxious Freedom" to which I am added another chapter immediately. I don't have much to say about this story before I pass it on to you to read it other than I hope you like it, the story line is actually going to be following exactly along with my other fic so they're sort of two "love stories" tied into one I suppose you could say, except now you're going to have a whole backstory on Neji and Tenten. Hopefully you guys don't mind the whole lack of originality when it comes to plot, I just always thought having the two stories intertwine would be great ever since I first started writing it._**

Again, review, follow and favorite if you like this story. It gives me hope that I'm not a terrible writer. I love you all, my apologies for my long hiatus!

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**__**A low rumble of thunder passed through the empty air, silence filled with its low cry as the sky opened up and allowed drops of rain to fall onto the battlefield. She mourned the loss of her children, cradling and kissing their faces with her tears one last time. The rain that pounded against the ground set a rhythm to the laughter and the cheers of joy that erupted into the air as every ninja from every land threw their hands towards the sky and celebrated a long fought for victory. The thick stench of curdled blood was shed and replaced with the fresh scent of mother earth. _If it had been any other day, any other man lying before her, she would have cheered as well.  
_  
Her lungs hitched with sobs that she choked back with quick sighs and hard swallows that felt like jagged knives; every so often she would receive a soft slap on the back as congratulations for a war well fought and that sudden touch would remind her to breathe. _In and out, in and out_, she held behind pressed lips, her mantra was well worn out as she hovered over him wordlessly with his form slumped and his hair splayed all around him like a halo. She bit the inside of her cheek so hard that she felt the warm, metallic taste of blood flow over her tongue and mix with saliva. _This isn't a nightmare you can wake yourself from, Ten. It's not a dream anymore_. She finally allowed herself to fall to her knees, her hair that was usually tied in two, identical buns now cascaded over her shoulders like a blanket, yet she couldn't bring herself to put in the effort to pull it back together again. Fragile and broken fingers stretched out to touch his, the chill of death shrouded them and she recoiled immediately as if she had touched something painful. She had, though, she had touched something that was taken from her and that in itself was painful. Her eyes searched his as well, as if there would be some other explanation, but they were hollow and empty, showing her nothing but a reflection that stared back at her with the same pained expression that she wore. Her body shook with an emotion that she couldn't seem to pinpoint, yet it filled her so terribly until it boiled beneath her skin and she could feel nothing else.

Her shoulders finally collapsed with the weight that she had been carrying on them for so long and she allowed herself this one moment of weakness, she allowed herself to cup his cheek in her hand and she allowed herself to press her face into his chest. The tears that fell mixed with the raindrops that were thrust against her. Cold and unyielding. _Just this once_, she told herself, _there won't be another chance_. The shallow breaths that she had reminded herself to take finally billowed out of her in long sobs that caused her throat to ache and her eyes to burn until she no longer made sounds and simply trembled in silence, gripping at his tattered clothing. She hadn't remembered the last time that she cried and she suddenly remembered why she hated it so much, but she couldn't stop. Her chest seemed to open up just like the sky had, forcing her heart to beat erratically and stop all at once, forcing the tears from her eyes until she shriveled up and died right there too.

A rigid hand clasped against her forearm, softly at first and then forcefully in an act of comfort, as if telling her to rise. Just as she began removing herself from his still form, expecting Lee to be holding a hand down to her, offering to bring her to her feet and a shoulder for her tears to fall on, a second hand ran seamlessly through her hair, pressed her face against his chest that suddenly thumped so rhythmically with a sound of a life she never thought she would hear again. The quiet thumps turned into strong beats, slow and steady as they rattled his chest like it was an old attic being cleared out of death. Her eyes finally transfixed to the face that she had always studied every day as they trained, a face that she knew every stoic purse of his lips, every ranging emotion, every frown, laugh and smile it was capable of, and there it was looking at her just them with a crooked smile formed of lips cracked and caked in blood.

There he was, smiling at her with shaking muscles and there she was, holding him like he was the last good thing that she had on this Earth, as if he was the only thing that kept her tethered to the ground. He frowned and cocked his head slightly, speaking words that she couldn't hear, her heart beating so loud in her chest that her ears were deafened by the sound of her own life. His hand cupped her cheek in return; they were chilled over yet soft and careful and she, too, swore that she was careful at first as she pressed her lips to his, cautiously meeting her skin with his as if it were made of glass, and then forcefully as she wanted to feel every part of him that would tell her that he was still alive and still there to bring in the coming day with her, as if he were the answer to every goddamn question she could ever ask, as if he were the cure to the disease that plagued her every night. Her body was so filled with want and need and as his arms reined her in close and as his lips and body melted into hers, she felt it. She felt those silent boundaries that they had made when they were children fold away, she felt the warmth that she had always dreamt about whenever she spaced as Gai Sensei lectured them on youth, his body cradled her in the way that she thought it would that one time she accidentally saw him shirtless when they were twelve and the same way she thought it would every time since. They parted for just a moment, looking at one another with hooded eyes that no longer asked questions, but were so filled with answers that the trailed down their cheeks in wet streams. He touched her temple with his index and middle finger, pulling them away to show her that they were stained red with blood.

"You're bleeding, Tenten." Neji warned her and for just a second, she could have sworn that his eyes were lavender and not white, the veins around them still tensed. His voice didn't lower with any sense of seriousness, but instead lightened as if he were stating the obvious to bring a smile to her face.

"You died!" Tenten nearly shouted, her brow furrowed together as she fought so desperately to maintain composure as she watched him fade in and out of consciousness before her. She pressed her hand to just below his ribcage, blood slowly pooling below her palm, forcing him to wince slightly but not enough for him to voice any concerns or discomfort. "We have to get someone here to help you."

"I'm fine," Neji grunted, his voice back to its usual calm and confident self. "Just help me stand." He nearly growled at her as she pressed his chest down with a closed fist, but he resigned an argument that he was readying just on the tip of his tongue as he saw her eyes dart to his dangerously, glinting with an overprotective nature that she showed only whenever he or Lee were seriously injured.

"No, stay down. I lost you once and I'm not about to lose you again for something as simple as another stupid injury you could have easily avoided had you just stayed put and not argued with me about it incessantly like you always do." His head that strained to look up at her fell back to the ground to rest, his silence gave her enough of a response to know that he was actually agreeing with her for once.

"I wasn't aware that I was yours to lose." A pink hue rose to her cheeks, her lips forming a thin line as she struggled to avoid defending herself, trying to maintain the silence that they had just moments before. He smirked that typical, Hyuuga smirk that she always hated because he did so whenever he knew he was winning one of their stupid arguments, but she somehow loved it because it was his and only his.

"That's not what I-" She paused and watched as he tried to grasp a small strand of her hair between his fingers and he smiled a strange smile that she hadn't seen him wear since they were children when all they did was laugh instead of cry. He continuously missed and his brow furrowed, but he finally looked towards her with an equally gentle expression. Tenten frowned, his Byakugan was wearing too much on him and depleting what little chakra he had.

"I always thought that your hair looked beauti…" Another small trail of blood flowed past his cracking lips, falling lazily down his neck that went limp. His vision faded slowly at first, haziness lining the very edges of his eyes, and then all at once he plummeted into darkness. He heard her voice shout for a medic, mumbling words into his ear, the syllables didn't make sense and they sounded so jumbled and so frantic, but still he clung to him as if they were the last thing he would ever hear. Her fingertips grazed his jaw, sending jolts of goose bumps down his spine before he finally lost consciousness.

- x -

The hum of monitors and the metronomic beeps that chimed in every three seconds pulled him into slight lucidity, figures blurred together as he opened his eyes and was met by the bright white of a hospital room. An unfamiliar sense of warmth shrouded him, though Neji couldn't understand why that explicitly was what made him uncomfortable and not his inability to see clearly or the fact that he could clearly hear that he was in the hospital. He tried in vain to recall the events that had placed him there. Had he trained too hard like he usually did, overcome with heat exhaustion? Not likely. Overuse of Byakugan? He hadn't remembered the last mission that he had to use it for longer than twenty minutes at a time and yet his vision was entirely absent from his senses. He twitched his fingers, rotated his ankles soundlessly, checking to make sure he had some semblance of limb function. He had always been so careful, he had never been in the hospital before, other than for routine visits that Sakura always insisted on him doing after high ranking missions.  
Voices spoke just quietly enough that he couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he could hear Hiashi's voice, stern and formal, and Tsunade's, much the same. Panic set in suddenly as he heard a word that brought chill up his spine, _dead_. He fought off the need to shout for Hinata long enough to hear her timid voice as well, settling in alongside Naruto's. He sighed, his distaste for Naruto had yet to subside, especially considering his cousin's soft side for him, but he was a humble man that refused to believe anyone was a lost cause. Even Neji himself.  
Neji frowned, the sterile smell of the hospital filled his lungs with every breath he took and he refused to sit there any longer. Pulling the IV from his vein, he felt a slow dribble down his arm as he took a deep breath, readying himself. Shooting, blinding pain shot through him as he forced himself to sit upright, his legs swinging off his bed and falling to the chill floor. His body cursed at him with every painstaking step, but as he traced his hand along the wall to find the door, he heard someone stand up behind him.

"Neji, you're awake!" Her voice sounded exhausted and weathered as if she had just woken up; he wondered if she had spent the night there with him. He held out his hands for her, silently beckoning for her assistance as he often did whenever he really did overused his Byakugan and forced his vision to blur. She rose to him, _of course she would_, and her fingers tentatively grasped his.

"Tenten." His voice mumbled with a question, though it was forced. "Why am I here?"

"Ah," He could almost feel her disappointment radiate from him. "Tsunade told me that you'd have some memory loss, what's the last thing that you remember?"

"We were returning from Iwa and then.." He frowned, his brow knitting together with frustration. _Why can't I remember anything?_ "Hn."

"That was nearly five months ago, but I guess it's best that you don't remember those things. I'm actually glad you don't, you know? You should really sit down, you're going to tear your stitches." Tenten sighed, pressing her hand against his hip so she could guide him back to his bed, though her touch lingered with no intention of moving him. Neji looked stoic as usual, his eyes unwavering as he stared out the window, trying so valiantly to ignore her gentle touch along bare skin. He hadn't realized he was shirtless, but her fingertips grazing his skin caused his muscles to tremble. He forced a blush away from his cheeks. Tenten merely smiled. She realized when Tsunade had told her about his memory loss that he would forget the things he told her late at night, when he mumbled things about his father in his sleep and his body shook with unshed tears and she held him as his fingers wrapped loosely with her own, when she kissed him and he kissed her back. She realized that there was hardly a chance that he would feel the same, now that he didn't remember. Another sigh passed through her lips and she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Will you take me home?" Neji's voice but a whisper against her mind as he pulled her out of her thoughts and back down to Earth. Tenten smiled, her hand found his again and she squeezed it softly. It looked as if a smile tugged at the edges of his lips as she did so, and yet he never made a move to look at her.

"Of course. Just let me fill out the forms to get you out of here, alright?"

"Tenten."

"Yes?"

"Did you stay here?"

"Oh," She paused, looking to the little make-shift bed she set up alongside his own, blankets and pillows strung about. It had been a few days since he had been carried back to Konoha, entirely unconscious, with Tsunade warning Hiashi that he might not wake up at all. But for some reason she held steadfast to the faith that he would. "It was only a few days and I wanted you to wake up to a familiar face, that's all. I'd be scared waking up alone, you know?" She smiled warmly, despite the fact that he wasn't able to see it. "Well, not that you'd really be able to see me. Good news is that your vision should start returning quickly. Just a little too much of a strain on your Byakugan is all."

"I.." Neji trailed off, his attention caught by the birds chirping. He seemed much more out of focus than Tenten ever remember him being, but she simply chalked it up to his injuries and never gave it a second thought. "I'm sorry I worried you and everyone else. Will I eventually remember?"

"There's a fifty-fifty chance that you will or won't. It'd be better if you didn't." He looked to be deep in thought for a moment, as if he were trapped in his own mind, throwing his hands out at thoughts and memories that just evaded his grasp, but then he nodded in agreement. He reached for her hand again, but he was met with an empty room and no touch.

"Hn. I suppose you're right."

- x -

Crickets chirped softly as night fell over Konoha, stars twinkling softly in contrast to the dark sky. Tenten's fingers drummed along the window sill, her eyes staring into the distance, counting the stars that made up the Milky Way that stretched so carelessly before her eyes. She knew that she should have been asleep long before now, yet if the last few nights were anything like this night, she'd rather not dream those dreams. She blew out a huff of air roughly, her bangs shaking with the sudden gust and she thought to do something productive. _Shower, sharpen weapons, literally anything would be better than sitting around_, she droned silently.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

_It's too late to be summoned by Tsunade_, her thoughts brimmed as she slowly lifted herself from her futon and stretched her aching limbs that were littered with small cuts and bruises, _besides, she probably has way too much on her plate than to be sending anyone on missions_. She hummed as she made the slow steps down to the front door of her apartment. She opened the door, almost expecting Sakura or Hinata to visit her, their relationship troubles always seemed to include her in their fixing and yet a pale face framed by dark hair looked around vacantly, almost unaware that she had opened the door.

"Neji?" She whispered softly, leaning against the door frame uncomfortably. He rarely visited her at her apartment and she visited him even less at his own compound. It was always an unspoken rule between them that they would meet at a ramen shop at four o'clock every Monday and Friday, save for when they went on missions, and would meet at six o'clock sharp every morning to train. It was their schedule, it was their rule, it was what made them a functional team.

"They rebuilt the village," He began, his voice cracking with an unrecognizable sadness that built in his chest and clumped at his throat, "and I can't remember where everything is. I.. stepped out for a second and I can't see or remember how to get back home." He mumbled the last few words as if he held some disdain for home that he never really spoke to her about. Her fingers flitted softly to reach for his wrist, his wavering eyes finally reigned back in to focus on her. They looked lavender and soft again, but it may have just been a trick of the moonlight.

"Why did you come here?"

"Your apartment was the only place that I could remember how to get to.." He paused and sighed loudly, taking Tenten back at how frustrated he was getting with himself, though his eyes looked much less milky than they had before. "I'd rather not go back home. No one really seems all too thrilled to have to take care of me in this condition." He never got embarrassed and he certainly never asked for help. He looked dejected and ashamed, a soft blush seeping over his cheek bones, but it may have just been a trick of the moonlight.

"Did you want to stay here?" Her question was more or less a statement, knowing that he had only come there for that purpose. He nodded slowly as he apologized for placing such a burden on her. "Alright, you can sleep in my bed and I can take the-"

"No, that wouldn't be right to have me take your bed when you've been kind enough to let me in so late at night." Neji's voice was stern and formal and, for some reason, she knew that there was no use arguing with him at that point, so she merely sighed and let his decision be another rule. She was light on her toes as she skipped over to brew some coffee. Tenten never had a taste for the stuff, but always found herself buying some every so often for whenever Neji would visit. He stood awkwardly in the doorway but traced his fingers along the soft chocolate walls until his knees bumped into the arm of a chair that he slowly lowered himself onto. Tenten watched him carefully, her elbow resting on the countertop as she did, her eyes hazy with the will of sleep but her heart hammered too rapidly for her to even consider closing her eyes. The kunoichi found herself again hopeful, not that he woke up, but that he would remember.

"Tenten." His voice came as a low whisper from deep in his chest and the palms of his hands covered his eyes as he rested the weight of his elbows on his knees. "I can't remember."

"Tsunade said that you might not be able to, remember I told you earlier this morning?"

"Hn." He hummed in a way that she knew he wasn't done speaking, so she remained silent as she poured him a small cup of black coffee. No sugar. No creamer. Just how he liked it. She lowered herself before him and slowly turned his hand over, pressing the warm glass into his hand until he grasped it. "Will you tell me? If I don't remember?"

"Neji, it'd be best if I didn't. Everyone that we care about is alright. Your family is all well and so are our friends. Our village is rebuilding and everything is going to be okay."

"Tenten, I would really-"

"I.. I can't." A slight frown fell over his face as he felt her presence leave him and the soft metallic click of a door shutting echoed from somewhere far from him within her apartment. He held the coffee in his hands until it turned cold and still long after that, listening to her soft sobs carry through the chilly air, chorused by cicadas and crickets humming in the tall grasses. He made no move to comfort her, though he wanted so badly to cradle her and save her from whatever demons haunted her.

- x -

_Knock, knock, knock._

For the second time that night she heard his quick call for her, those repetitive knocks against her door, but this time they came much slower as if he were testing new ground and, for just a moment, she thought about not answering and feigning sleep, but she knew he would stand there all night if it meant trying to help her in his strange, albeit gentle, way. Her mattress ached and squeaked with the shift in weight and she brought herself to stand before the door. Pressing her forehead against the wood frame, she tried to find courage to help her stop crying, but she knew she couldn't. The sorrow that she carried in her chest could not be eased and the weight she carried on her heart ached so painfully, she couldn't understand how it would continue beating. Neji listened as the door slid open, creaking with slight resistance.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," He began, but he felt her finger grace his lip softly. He flushed quickly, his body hardly knowing how to respond to her touch, let alone her mere presence. His fingers laced over her wrist and pulled her away, but it burned with her absence. "If you're suffering, I am as well." His breath hitched, it sounded much too sentimental for him. "We are a team, of course." _Right, a team. Nothing else_.

"It's alright." Tenten hushed, but her words merely feigned strength and she knew it was only a matter of time before he called her on her fallacies.

"I don't remember anything."

"Neji.." She trailed off, her body filled with the feeling of concern. Had he lost his short term memory was well?

"But I remember you and I shared a tent outside of Ame after an intel mission.." His voice was low and but a whisper against her heart. Her fingers grasped his. "..and I told you about my father and I told you stories he used to tell me when I was small." She nodded, knowing he couldn't see her acknowledgement. "You held my hand when it hurt to speak and I never thanked you."

"You don't need to thank me for that." She whispered back. "I was glad to-"

"They force fed me so many antibiotics and medicine that I'm hardly lucid, but I wanted so badly to kiss you that night, yet I couldn't bring myself to."

"Neji." Her voice was thick now with a tone that the Hyuuga had never heard come from her lips before, so much so that he almost thought it to be another woman, but his brow merely furrowed at the force with which she spoke his name. His chest ached and he wasn't sure why, but even in that moment he wanted to kiss her even though her words were dripping in the grime that came along with rejection.

"I'm sorry, I know that you don't see me that way."

"Neji." She said his name again and this time, he felt her fingers touch his jaw softly until she cupped his cheek in her small hands and he leaned into her touch just so slightly that she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't seen his smile. "I've wanted nothing more than you."

"I'm sorry I've waited so long to tell you, then."

"I'm sorry, too." She mumbled as her lips found his in the darkness. It was shaky and it was foreign territory, unconquered hills of hips and bare skin under fragile fingers and hooded eyes. It was far from perfect but she wanted more. _More, more, more_.

- x -

Muscles ached as his eyes came open to be swarmed by a sea of brown. He rolled over and blinked once, twice, thrice until he could see almost clearly. He rubbed them several times, trying to force clarity into his vision, but settled with the fact that he could finally see the majority of his surroundings. He sat up quickly but suppressed a grown as so when blood rushed to his head and dizziness overwhelmed him. Squinted eyes looked around and his throat groaned when he couldn't identify his surroundings and then, _movement_. He twitched visibly, Tenten rolled over to face him with her body still curled much like a cat's would. Her expression was calm and relaxed, beautiful even. He thought for a moment and found himself holding back audible swears. His drug-lubricated confession still brewed along his tongue, as did the touch of hers.

He rose quickly, gathering his clothes and making an effort to be as silent as possible to not wake her from her rest that he was sure that she needed much more than he did. Neji paused in the doorway from her room to the living room of her small apartment, staring at her body that rose and fell with every shallow breath that she took as she slumbered so peacefully. A smile tugged at his lips, but his heart hammered with the reminder that things couldn't be like this. They just couldn't be. And so, he left before the sun had the rise beyond the mountains and long before the stars started fading from view. He left her there, her hair a halo around her like an angel, he left her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, all! Sorry it's been so long. I hope you're all happy to see this update, though! Please, read my other fanfic, An Anxious Freedom, if you like this one! C:**

**Please ****FOLLOW****, ****FAVORITE**** and ****REVIEW****!**

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The sun cascaded through her windows; a golden sparkle beaming through her rosy curtains and letting the room take on a pink glow. Tenten raised her hands above her head, arching her back like a cat as she bended and stretched, muscles and joints creaking with a dull pain that she rubbed at forcefully with her cut and bruised hands. The silence that filled the room was suddenly broken by the chirping of a song bird as it reigned in the new day with its magnificent harmonies. There was an absence that she felt down to her bones, one that sent chills along her spine despite that the morning had brought along a warming breeze through her open window. She placed a hand delicately where her sheets had been folded back, the slightest indent at the edge of the bed as if someone had been sitting there for a long while, contemplating.  
Yet, she knew very well that the walls had been rebuilt silently in the night as she slept. Without a say in the matter, the world, her world, was returned to its normal state. Though, she regretted, normalcy was not what she had grown fond of nor had she wished for it late at night. She knew better than to get her hopes up, and so she rose from her bed, letting the sheets that had taken themselves against her tanned skin fall to the floor and letting her hopes fall away much the same.

- x -

Long before the sun had rose, he sat against the oak tree that bordered the road leading to the Hyuuga compound and stayed long after the sun set itself comfortably amongst the white clouds that lazed carelessly and aimlessly. The leaves danced in the warming breeze and the sunlight that drifted between them glistened across the dewed grass. He knew that many of his relatives had walked by him, taking notice of his peaceful state of meditation and leaving him to remain alone. The presence of his younger cousin had been the only thing to disrupt his state and only after she left did he open his eyes. Neji glanced down to find a kettle of still-hot tea placed before him, a cup already poured. He felt a smile press against his lips, the first one he had felt all morning, but it was fleeting as he was still overcome with a certain sense of grief, its source was untraceable. _Do I regret kissing her? Perhaps I fear that_.. Neji felt another three presences come to stand before him as he raised the tea to his lips, taking a long sip before acknowledging them. Inwardly, he sighed, glad that there was finally something to distract him from his incessant thoughts. He hadn't remembered a time that he could not relax enough to meditate.

"'Ey man, how're you holding up?" Kiba asked almost sheepishly, a feeling of sadness and apprehension radiating from his voice and even more so from his slumping stance, a shadow of his confidence that could typically felt from a mile away. Akamaru pressed his broad head to Neji's hand, whining and radiating the same concern as his owner. The Hyuuga smiled softly as he scratched a soft spot behind the dog's ear in a soft attempt at comforting the white beast.

"Well. Better than expected, truthfully," Neji began, setting down his cup and raising a hand. Shikamaru grasped it, helping him to his feet. Though his eyes had taken the worst damage, he still had many stitches and wounds that were more painful than he cared to admit. Transitioning from standing to sitting was something he found to be an uncomfortable task and moving from sitting to standing was nearly excruciating. "My eyesight has almost returned, though I'm sure Tsunade wouldn't clear me to go on missions or use Byakugan yet. " With that, Neji felt Kiba's relief flow through the air as he smiled, clasping his shoulder roughly, causing him to wince.

"He just got out of the hospital, Kiba, don't be so rough." Shikamaru scoffed, pulling Kiba's arm away from the Hyuuga. Neji refrained from scowling, unsure as to why anyone would treat him as if he were weak. In that moment, he felt so out of touch with reality. People treated him as if he were so fragile and would break at any touch. He found their sentiment nearly insulting, but followed his friends lead as they began their walk towards the border of the compound.

"You two are babies! You almost died and Shikamaru had most of his chakra sucked right out of him by Obito, almost died right there on the battlefield, too. Me? Hardly even a scratch. Two bandages at the most." Kiba recoiled almost immediately, hissing at his own outburst as he realized that he had forgotten Neji had no recollection of the past few months. Shikamaru shot him a harsh glance and a quick punch to the ribs; an uncomfortable silence filled the air. Neji looked to the sky, the clouds meshed together with the sky brilliantly, even in his blurred vision. _Ah, so that's why_. He closed his eyes and nodded, quietly accepting the truth that was so carelessly thrown before him. He preferred it this way, though. No sugar-coating or cutting away the rough edges out of kindness. He thought briefly that this was what Tenten refused to tell him, not to protect him, but because acknowledging the past made it real. _Tenten_. He held her name on the tip of his tongue thoughtfully and with a certain sense of passion, remembering the way hers felt against his. He shook his head roughly, forcing any memory from his mind. At least for the moment.

"Probably because you didn't even do anything." The Hyuuga spoke, his voice nearly a whisper, but Shikamaru quickly nodded in agreement and chuckled. Kiba grinned again, his fangs gleaming in the morning sun. And so, the trio of unlikely friends fell back into place, their silence dissipating in an instant.

"Did too! You guys were off doing your own thing, you missed all of it!"

"So while Neji played hero and sacrificed himself to save Naruto and Hinata and I coordinated a great deal of the battle, you did.." Shikamaru trailed off, laying a hand out in front of him as he waited for a brilliant story that Kiba would create to make himself sound like a hero. Neji shook his head, a smile returning to his face. _A hero? I wonder if father would be proud._

"Enough of that!" Kiba shouted. A flock of birds were startled by the sudden outburst and took to the air in an escape from his unwanted shriek. The other two men snickered loudly. "Man, we swung by late last night to ask you if you wanted to come to the bar with us for a drink but Hiashi-sama said you weren't around. What's up with that?" The color drained from his already pale face quickly, his heart beating just a little bit faster. A frown buried itself in firmly against his features as he looked down towards the compound, trying to come up with an excuse as to why he should be getting back, but even a Hyuuga genius was hardly one under this kind of pressure. Kiba nudged Shikamaru who only rolled his eyes.

"I was.." Hesitation was not a practice of the Hyuuga's and certainly not a practice of Neji. He grimaced for the interrogation to come.

"I've never heard you hesitate to explain your whereabouts." Shikamaru commented before he took a long drag of his cigarette. Blowing a plume of smoke into the air, he finally glanced back to the Hyuuga, smirking. He was not a man to meddle in another's business, but was surely a man to call another on his bullshit.

"I was at Tenten's." Kiba gasped with a quick grin and Shikamaru even looked a little surprised, raising an eyebrow as they waited for an explanation. He shrugged, sighed and started again. "I was at Tenten's after I left for a walk late last night and couldn't find my way back to the compound after the whole city was rebuilt. I had never seen any of it because I lack any memory of it. Being blind and all didn't seem to help and I couldn't.."

"But then, how could you find Tenten's place?"

"I.. just remembered where she lived. It's one of the few things that I remember. Everything after my mission to Iwa is a blur." Neji rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of everything but lacked the focus. His thoughts were, much like his life, a train wreck.

"Christ, that was five or six months ago. And then what?" Shikamaru asked, taking another long drag and blowing a ring of smoke into the air just large enough to encircle his head like a halo before it finally spread into the air like the clouds that he loved so dearly.

"We talked, I asked her to tell me what happened and she refused. She said it was better if I forgot and I stupidly insisted and she raised her voice, telling me that she didn't want to talk about it. I heard her cry for a few minutes before I went to apologize."

"Oh man, did you kiss her? Did you guys-?" Kiba humped the air for a moment, laughing hysterically before looking to Neji and Shikamaru who looked much less amused before he finally shrugged, mumbling something about how they had no senses of humor. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, glancing back to Neji to continue his explanation.

"It wasn't planned. The hospital nearly overdosed me with medication and pain killers so when I kissed her, I-"

"Well shit!" Kiba interrupted yet again, nearly shrieking. "I thought you'd never do it!"

"Do what?" Neji frowned, halting in place and crossing his arms over his chest. He refused to play such mind games, especially with someone like Kiba.

"Admit that you've got feelings for this girl! You've always had a soft side for Tenten, that's why I never bothered with her, dude! Always looking out for you."

"That's why you never pursued her. Because of him. Not because she would probably kick your ass from here to Suna and _back _before you'd ever even get to lay a hand on her." Shikamaru chided, taking another drag before finally flicking the butt onto the ground and swiping it beneath his shoe. "Besides, Tenten's much too nice for someone like you. Sweet girl, that one."

"Speaking of Suna, what about Temari, man? What's going on with you and her?"

"Nothing." Shikamaru waved his hand in the air as if literally brushing off the idea. "She's just the liaison and I'm her escort whenever she's in the village. Nothing more. I really should get going, I'm sure Tsunade's going to give me an earful for being late to the meeting." Yet, both Neji and Kiba knew that there was something much more in depth than whatever the Nara would admit but the men also knew that trying to get any information out of him was nearly impossible. His ability to avoid any conversation was unmatched.

"Gotta start patrolling the village tonight, eh? Nice enough excuse to get yourself out of admitting you've got a soft side for her, too, man. " Kiba nudged at Shikamaru again who, much to their surprise, smiled slightly before sighing.

"Hn." He hummed and nodded before parting from the group and down the road that lead towards the Hokage's mansion. He raised a hand in the air as he waved a fairwell, though he didn't look back to know if they had seen it.

"I should get going too, you know. I left Hana with a lot of chores this morning and she'll probably kick my ass if I don't help her with at least some of them." Kiba rolled his eyes, patting Akamaru on the back before he jumped on.

"She's the rough and tumble type, huh?" Neji mused.

"Like you wouldn't believe, my man. But I'll catch you around. We should hit the bars or a few food shops tonight. Hit the town to celebrate, eh?" Kiba grinned widely. "Let's go, Akamaru!" The two companions took off running, leaving a soft cloud of dust hovering in the air behind them. And so, Neji stood alone in the street and somehow they had left him just in front of his team's training grounds. Whether that was Shikamaru's strategic planning or just fate, he could sense Tenten just beyond the line of trees. He had tested the will of God throwing his life into the balance through his sacrifice, and yet this was the most fearful he had been in what felt like years, if not his entire life. His heart beat erratically and he grasped at his robes to silence its powerful thumping, but nothing could remedy this other than taking the bull by the horns. _Hai, here's really tempting fate_, Neji.

- x -

She wrapped her hands in white bandages, replacing the ones that had already been stained red. Her feet slid across the grass, her toes curling back against her feet as they did so, as if they themselves were sentient beings touching the ground for the first time with a sense of fright, but she pressed further until she stood in the center of the open field. The grounds were familiar, but were foreign as well. While she had spent years training in this very field, shed blood across this very grass, the months that she had spent away left her feeling broken and lost and that this comforting site was no longer home to her. She felt detached from Konoha and even more so from the people in it. But she pressed further again.  
Her long pole pressed against her side, she bowed to no one other than the sun and the wind that existed long before she did and would exist with pride long after. Her feet assumed a stance that seemed more natural and memorized than breathing, her eyes closed as she listened to the sound of the leaves shaking in the wind and the birds singing their love songs in the distance. It took her moments before she sprang to life as she swung the pole around her, defending herself from dozens of invisible attackers. She dodged and weaved, her movements blended into a dance that she could continue forever if she was made of nothing but pure energy ad yet, she stopped with her pole stretched forward towards a figure in the distance. Her eyes remained closed but she knew his chakra like it was her own and so she remained still as he strode closer. His strides were not nearly as confident as she had once remembered, as if he were testing new grounds the same way she had.

"Tenten." His voice was low as he bowed his head to her. She was used to his formality, but suddenly she felt alienated from her teammate now more than ever. The way her name slipped through his lips was much too harsh. Tenten expected as much. She turned to him quietly, finally opening her eyes to reveal brightness as if she contained the sun itself in her very chest. The bruises and small cuts that lined her face had been invisible to Neji before this moment, his eyes too blurred and his mind too selfish. He wanted to reach out and ask her if she were hurting, but he knew better. These borders were borders for a reason, lest they wish to wage war amongst themselves. Neither of them seemed to have the energy or will to do so, and so the borders stayed.

"Neji." Hearing his own name made him frown, though he wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was the vindictive way she spoke, the bitterness that hung on each syllable. It was not his name, nor was it Tenten.

"Hai." He assumed the same Hyuuga stance that he took on whenever they would train. "No Byakugan." Tenten watched him carefully, her body hesitant as it moved with rigidity. She was never known for stiffness, she moved like the river and the wind as one. The way the energy moved through the mountains. The way the rain fell from the clouds. But still, she stood before him, extending her long pole towards him until he grunted and they were off.  
The weaved around one another, a danced they danced, a game they were both masters at and could never gain the upper hand long enough to check mate the other. This movement as gentle as the way he held her cheek while she cried into his chest, the way he wrapped his fingers around hers and the nanosecond that he spent thinking of the previous night was long enough to lose focus and just long enough for her to get the upper hand. _Check mate_.  
His back collided the ground with a dull, hollow thud and it took just the sound of his fall to let her fall back into the memories of his sacrifice, him falling before his comrades, his teammates, her, and she was hovering over him in an instant. Tenten's brows furrowed as her eyes stared into his, the contrast of brown against white was almost too intense, but it burned furiously as they remained unwavering. She wanted so badly to kiss him the way she had that day, as the rain fell and cradled a love that had burned terribly in their chests, but that was then. This was now. The weapon's mistress could hardly suppress a frown as she grasped his hand and pulled him to stand. She noticed how he struggled and groaned softly as he did so. He was still hurt and, momentarily, she felt guilty for allowing him to spar with her.

"Hn. I hate to think that I deserved that."

"You're still hurt, it was luck on my part at best." She finally turned from his gaze, kneeling into the grass as she emptied her pack, looking for a small bandage to cover his freshly garnered wound.

"Luck." He repeated softly, his lips barely parting with a momentary realization. "Tenten."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"Why would you be sorry? I just cracked you on the head." She finally stopped looking through her pack, her eyes hot against his as she looked for answers that Neji hated to admit were most likely not there. Even he didn't know what to say, what answers to give her. She knew he was calculating what to tell her, their conversation hadn't gone as he planned and she readied herself for that bitter disappointment that came along with rejection. _Only friends, Tenten. Only friends_.

"For making you worry about me. For never allowing you close. Proximity is the only way that I feel comfortable." Neji rambled, something that caught her off guard and a guise of concern fell over her face.

"Are you alright?" She chided, still not smiling. The smile that could alleviate every worry that clouded his mind. The smile that brightened his every day. The smile that could drive him senselessly mad late at night. The smile that clung to her face long after she fell asleep and the smile he would then spend hours studying. That smile was his every cure and every poison, something he never admitted to anyone, let alone himself. And, he wondered, why all of these things were bubbling to the surface now. Why was it now that he lacked the confidence to do the simple things he must have done a million or more times but had the courage to do something crazy, like what he was ready to admit to her.

"I don't want to be comfortable anymore."

"I don't-"

"I don't want to keep you at a distance because it's easy. That's not fair to you." He interrupted her and for a while, he focused on her lips, praying for a smile. A grin. A flicker of happiness that would make her think of him the way he thought of her. That she didn't pity him and that their kiss was not drug induced on his part and vulnerability on hers.

"I think I hit you too hard, do you-" There. A smile fell over her features, bringing a light to her eyes and a lightness to her voice that was unmatched.

"It's not fair to me either." He pressed, rising and standing before her.

"Neji."


End file.
